• Rewind to 1990

Who's Fooling Who?

Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank served up a fight that lived up to the hype © PA Photos

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James DeGale takes on George Groves at the O2 on Saturday, with the pair looking to settle old scores. It is unlikely that they will emerge from the fight as friends, such is the bad blood, and down the years there have been other British grudge matches and we Rewind to November 18, 1990 when Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank met for the first time.

Benn earned the nickname 'the Dark Destroyer' for his all-action approach to his fights, while Eubank was tagged 'Simply the Best' - an indication of the esteem he held himself in. The pair emerged on the scene at the same time and with vastly differing personalities and approaches to boxing, it came as no surprise that the rivalry grew and grew to the extent that Benn elected to put his WBO middleweight title on the line against Eubank in fight that was tagged Who's Fooling Who?.

The scene was set, with Benn the favourite on the back of his victories over Doug de Witt and Iran Barkley. The underdog tag did not faze Eubank who wanted to break into the big league and he saw Benn as his meal ticket.

The dislike boarded on loathing and it was not stage-managed. Understandably, the bad blood captured the imagination of the public and the NEC in Birmingham was bristling with anticipation. As the challenger Eubank was the first to enter the stage and he milked every moment of his walk on to Tina Turner's Simply The Best - that is until the music stopped. Legend has it that the Benn camp sabotaged the sound system. Eubank shrugged it off, vaulting the top rope and posing with fists glued to his chest.

The decibel level increased as crowd favourite Benn made his way to the ring. All business, he had the kind of stare that would turn Navy Seals to jelly and he shadow boxed round the ring like a man possessed.

There were as many boos as cheers as Eubank was introduced to the crowd, but he stood there unfazed - pose locked in. Benn's introduction left people in no doubt that he had the NEC on his side and the mood of the occasion was summed up when commentator Reg Gutteridge said: "The way they have been talking, the fight could be shorter than the introductions."

Eubank was a chess player in the ring and his mind games started ahead of the fight with the boast that he had placed a £1,000 bet on himself to win in the first round. The £40k he stood to win went astray, as Benn dominated the centre of the ring without adopting the cavalier approach many expected.

The unorthodox nature of Eubank was summed up at the bell, as while Benn's corner worked hard Eubank refused to sit down and walked around the ring preening. If the first round was a sizing-up exercise, the second was what as expected. Benn ramped up the crowd with a stinging right cross that rocked Eubank. Further bombs were thrown by Benn, but as Eubank was to prove time and again throughout his career - he could absorb a punch as well as anyone. Benn was beaten by Michael Watson earlier in his career and for all his heart, his chin was suspect. And his legs went a little loose when caught by a fine right towards the end of the second round.

The crowd knew just six minutes in they were in for a treat and the fourth round saw Benn catch Eubank with a savage uppercut. So flush was the shot, it saw Eubank bite through his tongue. As he revealed later, he pretty much severed his tongue and so bad was the injury he refused to tell even his cornermen. For the remainder of the night he had to fight not only Benn, but the challenge of blood swilling round his mouth.

Blood flowing from his mouth, Eubank picked himself up off the canvas to seal victory © Getty Images

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Benn landed a couple more big shots in the fourth and Eubank was rocking, but he failed to finish off his man. And in the same round swelling around Benn's eye started to appear and by the fifth it was virtually shut. Benn started to miss with a lot of shots, partly due to the skills of Eubank and partly to the champion's vision problem.

Eubank had absorbed some huge shots from Benn and by the seventh round he was the man starting to come forward. But his eccentric ways were never far from the surface and towards the end of the seventh he recoiled claiming a low blow. He turned his back but referee Richard Steele was having none of it and allowed Benn to march forward and unload shots.

In the eighth, Benn caught Eubank with a right to the top of the head and it put him on the canvas. Eubank screamed "slip, slip" to the referee but he was forced to take an eight count.

Despite being willed on by the crowd, the best of Benn had been and gone and Eubank strutted round the ring at the end of the eighth and had to be forced onto his stool by his corner.

Eubank had an air of confidence about him and it was well founded as a massive right turned Benn's legs to jelly. The challenger went in search of the victory, but could not land the telling shot. However, Benn's legs were shot to pieces and with a matter of five seconds left in the round Steele stepped in to stop the fight.

Benn was devastated by the stoppage, a couple of seconds more and he would have had time to clear his head. We will never know, but it in all likelihood saved Benn from further punishment as Eubank looked fresh and ready to go in for the kill - despite struggling with a near severed tongue.

The pair embraced in the ring after the fight, a clear indication that respect had been earned. Benn later described his opponent as "savage" and they got it on again in Manchester three years later, when fighting each other to a virtual standstill in a bout that was declared a draw. But it was the first match that set British middleweight boxing on a path to a golden era.

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